Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday (Year C), 1 April 2007
By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Text: Luke 23: 1-56 (Luke 22:14-23:56)
Other readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11
The Church in its wisdom has provided for us an impressive amount of the passion story according to Luke as our Gospel reading today &, tho we only read the last ½ of it [dramatically] this morning, I urge you to carry it home for meditation on the entirety of Luke’s rendition during the week. On Friday we will read dramatically the same story as told by the 4th Evangelist, John at the noon ecumenical service here at Hope. The events of the next week form the core of our identity as Christians, & all 4 evangelists began with the passion story & developed their gospels from this story & this week, so we do well to participate in as many ways as we can, singly & in community, in order to fully immerse ourselves in Jesus’ trip to the cross, tomb, & Easter dawn garden as well as those around him.
[10:30]We began this morning for those who chose to participate with a palm procession, much like the disciples did for Jesus that last week of his life, & joyously sang “Hosanna, Lord” as we paraded into this beautiful church to continue our worship.
Now, however, with the reading of the passion story, our tone has changed to one more somber, recognizing the second emphasis to our day, the Sunday of the Passion, it is called in the prayer book.
At this, the first day of Holy Week, we hear the events we will commemorate each day this week leading us to the Day of resurrection we call Easter. What an amazing story! Of course, we know the outcome, the climax, Jesus risen from the dead, but we must hold back from that celebration until the appointed time. Most gospel stories are short & without much detail, but each gospel writer gives a full account of Jesus’ Passion journey.
In Luke’s telling of the story, Jesus models the way to face crises in our lives & to love one another fully. We enter the story today after Jesus has gone to Gethsemane to pray & where he is arrested. Now, Jesus is led before Pilate where Luke’s emphasis is on who Jesus really is. Those around Jesus mock him with titles which ironically reveal his true identity: Prophet, Messiah, Son of God, King of the Jews. The religious authorities present Jesus to the Roman authorities in political terms, making him sound like an enemy of Rome, but neither Pilate nor Herod believes him guilty of any crime. Here, they show their own cowardice, trying to pass the buck to each other & bending to the will of the religious officials in order to keep peace & appease the locals. Most of these folks weren’t evil people, tho with Pilate we could probably argue that. They were just protecting life as they knew it, afraid to take a chance on anything new, even if it showed promise. Isn’t it peculiar that Pilate’s & Herod’s joint dilemma of what to do with Jesus is what makes them friends? With friends like that, who needs enemies, right?
The insurrectionist & murderer Barabbas is released while the crowd says of Jesus, “Crucify him,” so Jesus is led off to his death. Each Friday this Lent & twice again on Good Friday we are walking the way with Jesus to the place called The Skull as we have prayed the Stations of the Cross. Our ability to walk with Jesus this week is a privilege & informs throughout the year who we are as Christians.
What is Jesus’ response to those who condemn him to death & carry out his sentence? To Herod, the man who had Jesus’ cousin John’s head brought to him on a platter, he says absolutely nothing. Jesus’ response to Pilate’s question, “Are you the kKing of the Jews?” is simply an affirmation, “You say so.” Jesus makes no claims of his own, for, as Paul tells us in the epistle this morning, Jesus humbles himself & experiences the natural consequences of his being obedient to God’s will. Later, he cries from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus’ compassion & commitment to his healing ministry is most touching as the thief crucified next to him pleads, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ lavish love to him is the promise of salvation.
Natural phenomena draw attention to Jesus’ death itself. Darkness covers the land & the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, revealing the Holy of Holies. Direct access to God is now available to all people. Luke tells us Jesus dies confident of God’s loving care & he says, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Then Jesus, in his ultimate act of obedience, breathes his last, choosing the moment of his own death.
The Roman centurion, not one of Jesus’ followers but an outsider, recognizes Jesus’ innocence. The women who have cared for him throughout his ministry go off to mourn & observe the Sabbath so they can be prepared to minister to his body with their spices & ointments on the 1st day of the week. Even one of the clergy, a member of the Sanhedrin, another outsider, Joseph of Arimathea, places him in a new tomb, honoring him finally in death.
So here we have Luke’s story to ponder thru the week. We haven’t heard the end of the story yet. Thru Holy Week we are in the most poignant tension between the “already” & the “not yet,” present moving into future. Next Sunday, we will gather here to behold the miracle of God’s gracious goodness revealed through Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus won’t love us any MORE if we have been here during the week to walk the Way of Tears with him through the worship services marking the events of his Passion. But neither can Jesus love us any LESS. That’s the nature of Jesus’ love; it is immeasurable. We come together to worship & watch & wait this Holy Week so that this stupendous gift can be real for each of us, so that we can live more fully into our baptism as sisters & brothers of Jesus the Christ, as a community. In particular, let us celebrate our own baptisms & commit once again to our baptismal vows as we incorporate new children into the body of Christ at the Easter vigil at 6:30 next Saturday evening. And then, still, we await the new birth of Easter morning.
By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Text: Luke 23: 1-56 (Luke 22:14-23:56)
Other readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11
The Church in its wisdom has provided for us an impressive amount of the passion story according to Luke as our Gospel reading today &, tho we only read the last ½ of it [dramatically] this morning, I urge you to carry it home for meditation on the entirety of Luke’s rendition during the week. On Friday we will read dramatically the same story as told by the 4th Evangelist, John at the noon ecumenical service here at Hope. The events of the next week form the core of our identity as Christians, & all 4 evangelists began with the passion story & developed their gospels from this story & this week, so we do well to participate in as many ways as we can, singly & in community, in order to fully immerse ourselves in Jesus’ trip to the cross, tomb, & Easter dawn garden as well as those around him.
[10:30]We began this morning for those who chose to participate with a palm procession, much like the disciples did for Jesus that last week of his life, & joyously sang “Hosanna, Lord” as we paraded into this beautiful church to continue our worship.
Now, however, with the reading of the passion story, our tone has changed to one more somber, recognizing the second emphasis to our day, the Sunday of the Passion, it is called in the prayer book.
At this, the first day of Holy Week, we hear the events we will commemorate each day this week leading us to the Day of resurrection we call Easter. What an amazing story! Of course, we know the outcome, the climax, Jesus risen from the dead, but we must hold back from that celebration until the appointed time. Most gospel stories are short & without much detail, but each gospel writer gives a full account of Jesus’ Passion journey.
In Luke’s telling of the story, Jesus models the way to face crises in our lives & to love one another fully. We enter the story today after Jesus has gone to Gethsemane to pray & where he is arrested. Now, Jesus is led before Pilate where Luke’s emphasis is on who Jesus really is. Those around Jesus mock him with titles which ironically reveal his true identity: Prophet, Messiah, Son of God, King of the Jews. The religious authorities present Jesus to the Roman authorities in political terms, making him sound like an enemy of Rome, but neither Pilate nor Herod believes him guilty of any crime. Here, they show their own cowardice, trying to pass the buck to each other & bending to the will of the religious officials in order to keep peace & appease the locals. Most of these folks weren’t evil people, tho with Pilate we could probably argue that. They were just protecting life as they knew it, afraid to take a chance on anything new, even if it showed promise. Isn’t it peculiar that Pilate’s & Herod’s joint dilemma of what to do with Jesus is what makes them friends? With friends like that, who needs enemies, right?
The insurrectionist & murderer Barabbas is released while the crowd says of Jesus, “Crucify him,” so Jesus is led off to his death. Each Friday this Lent & twice again on Good Friday we are walking the way with Jesus to the place called The Skull as we have prayed the Stations of the Cross. Our ability to walk with Jesus this week is a privilege & informs throughout the year who we are as Christians.
What is Jesus’ response to those who condemn him to death & carry out his sentence? To Herod, the man who had Jesus’ cousin John’s head brought to him on a platter, he says absolutely nothing. Jesus’ response to Pilate’s question, “Are you the kKing of the Jews?” is simply an affirmation, “You say so.” Jesus makes no claims of his own, for, as Paul tells us in the epistle this morning, Jesus humbles himself & experiences the natural consequences of his being obedient to God’s will. Later, he cries from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus’ compassion & commitment to his healing ministry is most touching as the thief crucified next to him pleads, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ lavish love to him is the promise of salvation.
Natural phenomena draw attention to Jesus’ death itself. Darkness covers the land & the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, revealing the Holy of Holies. Direct access to God is now available to all people. Luke tells us Jesus dies confident of God’s loving care & he says, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Then Jesus, in his ultimate act of obedience, breathes his last, choosing the moment of his own death.
The Roman centurion, not one of Jesus’ followers but an outsider, recognizes Jesus’ innocence. The women who have cared for him throughout his ministry go off to mourn & observe the Sabbath so they can be prepared to minister to his body with their spices & ointments on the 1st day of the week. Even one of the clergy, a member of the Sanhedrin, another outsider, Joseph of Arimathea, places him in a new tomb, honoring him finally in death.
So here we have Luke’s story to ponder thru the week. We haven’t heard the end of the story yet. Thru Holy Week we are in the most poignant tension between the “already” & the “not yet,” present moving into future. Next Sunday, we will gather here to behold the miracle of God’s gracious goodness revealed through Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus won’t love us any MORE if we have been here during the week to walk the Way of Tears with him through the worship services marking the events of his Passion. But neither can Jesus love us any LESS. That’s the nature of Jesus’ love; it is immeasurable. We come together to worship & watch & wait this Holy Week so that this stupendous gift can be real for each of us, so that we can live more fully into our baptism as sisters & brothers of Jesus the Christ, as a community. In particular, let us celebrate our own baptisms & commit once again to our baptismal vows as we incorporate new children into the body of Christ at the Easter vigil at 6:30 next Saturday evening. And then, still, we await the new birth of Easter morning.
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